Adjustable tie rod



7 Feb. 5, 1952 R. E. FIDLER ADJUSTABLE TIE ROD Filed Nov. 22, 1950 Patented Feb. 5, 1952 ADJUSTABLE TIE ROD.

Robert .E. Fidler, Royal Oak, Mich, as'sig'nor' to Thompson Products, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Application November 22, 1950, Serial No. 197,039

5 Claims. (01. 2s7-5s) 1 This invention relates to. a tie rod which is easily adjustable in length for use withv vehicles where the span of the steerable wheels, is adjustable.

More specifically the. invention deals with a variable length two-piece tie rod having an extended length which is at least twice its shortest length and equipped with tie rod. joints at each end thereof.

Some dirigible vehicles, such as row crop wheeled tractors, have front wheels-which can be adjusted to vary the span thereof. Such vehicles require a tie rod which will accommodate this: adjustment without any appreciable change in the rigidity of the rod between its shortest and. longest positions. It is highly desirable to produce such an adjustable tie rod which is of simple but rugged construction and is economical to manufacture.

According to the present invention, a first tie rod joint has. an elongated stem or shank. ex-

tending from its housinginto one end of an openended tube carrying a. second tie rod. joint at the other end thereof in offset relation so as not to obstruct the other open end of the tube; The

. stem of the first joint, in. the shortest adjusted position of the. assembly, can extend completely through the tube. The one open end of thetube receiving the stem is longitudinally: slotted and equipped with a clamp that. will. contract the 'tube on the stem to fixthe. relative telescoped positions of the tube and stem. The. assembly cantherefore be easily adjusted to place the tie rods close together or far' apart and. the longest span of the assembly can be at. least twicethe lengthof the shortest span while still allowing enough telescoping of the rod andstem to: insure rigidity.

It' is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an adjustable tie'rodandtie rod jointlassembly wherein one joint'h'as a housing with a shank that can extend completely through. an open-ended tube carrying another .joint in offsetv relation from the open ends of v the tube.

Another object. of" this invention. is. to. provide an adjustable length tie rod. with joints on. the

threadedly receiving a nut l8.

justably' telescoped in an open-ended tubular shank portion of a second joint.

Other and further features, objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the annexed sheet of drawings showing a preferred embodiment of the invention.

On the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of an assembled tie rod construction according to the present invention;-

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the tie rod shown in Figure 1 with one of the joints shown in section and with a dotted line showing how the rod may be extended;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along line IIIIII of the figure and illustrating the. conforming relationship between the tubular shank and the integral tongue of. one of the joints.

As shown on the drawings:

In Figure 1 is illustrated an adjustable tie rod assembly Ill having ball joints H and 12 at the opposite ends thereof. The ball joint II has an integral elongated rod-like stem or shank I4 extending through a tubular stem or shank l5 fixedly attached tothe ball joint [2. The tubular shank l'5 has its axis offset with respect to the joint I 2 in order to allow the shank I4 of the joint H to pass beyond the joint l2 without interfering therewith.

Each of the ball joints H and 12 may be of any suitable construction such as that shown in the sectional portion of Figure 2. As'seen in this'view, a joint stud It has a threaded end portion IT: for Adjacent the threaded end portion H is a tapered shank portion l9- for connecting with a: tapered hole in a steering arm (not shown). The other endportion of the stud it is provided with an integral segmental hall 29. At the end of the stud l5 adjacent the segmental ball-Zll there is provided a smaller segmental ball end portion 2| having a common center with the ball portion 20. The ball portion 2o has an annular segmental spherical 7 insert 22 therearound which is seated in a conends' thereof that can be positionedapart. within a range having a. distance. whichisat. least twice the minimumdistance.

Still. another. obj ectof the-present. invention. is to provide. an. adjustable length; tie. rod and tie rod joint assembly. in which onejoint l'iousingv is provided. with. an. elongated j integral. shank adforming segmental spherical'sock'et 23 formed at one end of a cylindrical chamber 24 in a joint housing 25. At the opposite end of the housihgzfi is a. counterbore 26 which receives a circular closure member?! fixedly retained therein by spinniri Orpeen'ingthe walls .o'f the housing 25 about 7 the outer edge portion'thereofl A bearing. seat member 28 has spherical indentation receiving the ball endportion 2! 'of the stud it in spherical bearing relationship, and a conically-shaped coil tween the bearing seat member 28 and the closure member 21 to urge the mating bearing surfaces into proper bearing contact. A sealing cap 30, which may be of resilient material such as rubber, is disposed over the end of the housing which contains the socket 23 and has the end of fixed relationship.

the stud l6 extending therethrough. Thus, the

stud i6 is retained in rotatable, universally tiltable relationship within the housing 25.

The joint H'has a stud 3i, a nut 32, a cap 33,

and a housing 34 similar to the corresponding. parts of the joint l2. The rest of the joint I I may be constructed in a manner similar to that described in connection with the joint l2. 7

The rod-like shank 14 of the joint II is substantially perpendicular to the stud 31 therein.

The shank I4 may be rigidly formed with the housing 34 as by machining or forging, or the portion may be formed separately and welded to the housing to form an integral unit. Between :'the housing 34 and the shank i4 is formed a short shank portion 35 of somewhat larger diameter forming an abutment shoulder 36 to prevent the end of the tubular shank [5 of the joint l2 fro contacting the housing 34. a

For attaching the tubular shank portion l5 of the joint l2 to the housing 25 in offset relationship thereto in order not to block the passage through the tubular portion, the housing 25 is provided with an offset tongue-like shank 31. The shank 31 has a segmental cylindrical surface 38 extending substantially tangentially with respect to the outer side surface of the housing. The cylindrical surface 38 has its cylindrical axis substantially perpendicular to the stud l6 of the joint I2. The integral shank 31 is fixedly attached to one end portion of the tubular shank l5 as by welding with the cylindrical surface 38 in conforming relationship with the adjacent surface of the cylindrical shank. Thus, the side of 'the outer surface of the cylindrical shank l5 to- -ward the housing 25 is in a generallytangential line with respect to the corresponding outer side surface of the housing and the cylindrical shank is rigidly fixed with respect to the joint 12. Hence, the joint l2 does not block the passage through the tubular shank l5, and therefore the end portion of the shank M of the joint H may move beyond the joint l2 without interference until the opposite end of the tubular shank l5 abuts the shoulder 36 formed at the inner end of the shank M in order to provide the shortest length between the joints H and I2.

The end of the tubular shank 15 adjacent the joint H is provided with a longitudinal slot 39. A split ring clamp assembly 46 having a split ring-like bight portion 4| and a pair of integral opposed generally radially extending cars 42 is disposed over the slotted end portion of the tubular shank I5 withthe bight portion All in conforming relationship thereto. A bolt 43 is inserted through the ears 42 and is provided with a lock washer 44 which is retained by a nut 45 threadedly engaging one end portion of the bolt 43. Thus, the split ring clamp assembly 45 may be radially contracted about the slotted end portion of the tubular shank 15 by tightening the nut 45 on the bolt 43 to urge the ears 42 toward one another. Hence, the slotted end portion of the tubular shank l5 will be contracted about the adjacent surface of the shank l4 to provide a rigid non-sliding, non-rotating connection therebetween.

4 The tie rod assembly ID may be adjusted in length from a length slightly shorter than that shown in solid lines in Figure 2 to a length some what greater than that indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 2 in conjunction with the solid showing of the joint l2. The ring clamp assembly 40 serves to maintain the adjusted portion in The outer surface of the shank l4 and the mating inner surface of the tubular shank l5 may be smooth as shown or they may be provided with any suitable type of engaging means such as threads, serrations, etc.

From the above description it will be readily apparent that the present invention provides an improved and simplified adjustable length tie rod and tie rod joint construction.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

Iclaim as my invention:' J

1. An'adjustable length tie rod for -a vehicle embodying adjustable span steerable wheels comprising an open-ended tube having a longitudinally slotted end portion, a joint having a housing with a stud rotatably and tiltably retained therein, said joint housing having a, fixedly attached tongue with a segmental cylindrical face extending generally tangentially from the joint housing, said tongue being fixedly attached to the unslotted end portion of said tube with the cylindrical tongue surface in conforming contact with the adjacent surface of the tube to position the joint housing in ofiset relation from the unslotted open end of the tube, a second joint having a housin with a stud rotatably and tiltably retained therein, said second joint housing having an elongated rod-like shank portion rigidly attached thereto and extending laterally therefrom into the slotted end of the tube, said shank adapted to extend completely through and beyond the tube, and a clamp on the slotted end portion of said tube to contract said end about said shank for effecting a fixed connection therebe'tween.

2. An adjustable length tie rod and joint assembly having a maximum span'at least twice the length of its minimum span comprising an elongated rod, an elongated tube receiving said rod in telescoping relationship, a first tie rod joint fixedly attached to one end of said rod, a second .tie rod joint fixedly attached to an end portion 'of said tube opposite to said first joint,- said second joint being out of alignment with the passage through said tube to accommodate projection of 'the rod through the tube beyond said second joint, and means for contracting a portion of said 'tube about said rod to retain the rod and the stem in telescopin relation therein, and means for retaining said stem and said tube in' fixed ad- 'justed relationship.

4. An adjustable tie rod for a vehicleembodying adjustable span wheels'comprising a first ball joint having a laterallyextending elongated stem, a secondball joint having alaterally extending elongated tubular shank receiving the stem in telescoping relation, the axis of saidsecond joint being offset from the axis of said tubular shank to permit the end portion of said stem to protrude out of said tubular shank beyond said second ball joint without interference therewith, and means for fixedly securing said first joint stem within said tubular shank.

5. An adjustable length tie rod and joint assembly comprising a first joint having an elongated fixedly attached solid shank portion, a second joint havin an elongated fixedly attached tubular shank portion receiving said first joint solid shank portion therein in conforming relationship therewith, said second joint being ofiset with respect to the tubular shank portion to allow the end portion of the solid shank portion to protrude out ofthe tubular shank portion beyond 7 said second joint, the other end of the tubular 6 shank .portion having a longitudinal slot therein, and a contractible split ring clamp disposed about said slotted end portion for contracting the same about the solid shank portion to maintain a selected fixed relationship between said joints.

ROBERT E. FIDLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 

